ok my buddies got an 02 f4i like mine with around 17k miles and he had a little problem today while riding....we went out for a 5 min spin around town and rode through the outlet mall which is a few minutes of idle like speeds..at a light we noticed a smell and he looked down to see some splatters of liquid on the lower side fairing by the exhaust. we took them home and pulled the fairings to find out what was leaking. no apparent leaks were found and whatever was spraying had stopped. there was whitish greenish drops from the radiator cap area all the way along the side case and back to the swingarm so we are 99.9% sure its coolant. he did a coolant flush about 2-3,000 miles ago and replaced with engine ice. ever since the change there have been no apparent signs of problems...bike actually runs nicer. we took the bike for a rip around with the fairings off to see if it would blow again but couldnt get anything. after letting it cool down we took off the radiator cap and it was full to the brim with engine ice. after dropping a few drops of engine ice onto the fairings to compare to the previous ones it looks basically exactly the same. if the bike hasnt ever overheated before, the rads full of ice, and there are no puddles under the bike or easy to spot leaks, anyone know what we can look for next?
thanks for any help!

 

it might be because you have air in your cooling system????
did he bleed the air when he replaced the coolant???

 

Check all your hose fittings. I had the exact same thing happen to me on the ride into work today.

You might replace the radiator cap too. It's supposed to open up at a specified pressure, but if the spring has weakened, it might be bleeding off pressure prematurely.

 

i did the flush with him and we did the air-removal procedure so i dont think thats it..its been perfect for at least 2-3 months...i did a quick run through the fittings and didnt notice anything overly loose but i guess ill do another run through. the cap is a possibility....is there any way of telling without just replacing it? its hard to pinpoint the area because we couldnt get it to do it when we took it out for the second time so its obviously something that is only happening after some ride time.

any other ideas?

 

if you want to check the cap, stick some paper around it, and let the bike warm, then give her full throttle for a couple af times...if you the paper it's getting wet,then you have a leak thru your cap....what i did with mine,is i aplied sylicone to it, and sealed the cap...

 

you didn't mix any tap water with the ice did you? buddy of mine had that happen 3 months after he flushed it. turns out, tap water has impurities which start to corrode your **** after a little while. Distilled water also doesn't boil, regardless of how hot it gets.

 

A friends new M109 would spray just enough coolant mist from a hose fitting to where he could feel it on his leg and it would collect on his bike.

It only takes a very minor opening for a littlecoolant to leak through.

 

mixed no water, just straight up ice...ill definitly try the paper on the cap idea and if thats not it i will do a full run through on all the hose fittings...hopefully its a minor issue!

appreciate all the help guys

 

If you have access to a pressure tester, that will help. Find a mechanic with one with the proper adapter and have at it.

 

yeah i'm leaning toward a faulty cap too. check it out and check back!